Raposa Pass It On
by Temyx Mew Mew Haerts
Summary: Sock was a boy who is living on the streets, trying to make the best of what he can. He lives his days in the city of Temt scrounging for food and money to get by. Unknown to him, an underground laboratory is in need of him, and two others, for their horrid plans to be complete. Needless to say, this does not end well for any party involved.
1. Chapter 1

AN: hello there im ash. this is a rewrite of an old story from deviantART that was a pass it on in the drawn to life fanbase. i hope i do it justice. there will be violence and body horror, and possibly other things that may not be for certain people. please take that into consideration before reading.

_****_**X-x x-X**

_pitter patter pitter patter_

_all your hearts will go a-splatter_

_and in the end, it doesn't matter_

_pitter. patter. pitter. patter._

**X-x x-X**

It started the way it always does: on a day where fat cloud behemoths in the sky pour down fountains of rain. The rain is nothing but a small annoyance to the raposa that make their way through the city of Temt, as Temt had no time to be anything more than annoyed.

The city was full of skyscrapers that were tall and grey, more so than the clouds spitting out rain to the ground below. The smaller buildings surrounding them were slightly less grey, but not by much. Perhaps the raposa were looking quite grey as well, despite the multitude of different colored fur. Though grey was a color of fur that was somewhat common, it did not excuse dull pallor of most of the citizens. Some rapos were even born unnaturally grey looking in comparison to a healthy grey furred tourist from a few towns away.

No one seemed to find anything wrong with this.

It was a well accepted fact. The grey folk would live their grey lives as they were meant to—rain or not. They marched on and took the droplets as nothing more than little pitters and patters of meaninglessness. However, this was not the case for one rapo. For that one rapo, the rain was like knives falling down upon him.

A lone boy trundles down the street with his head hung low, soaked to the bone. He's drawn his arms close to his body in a fervent attempt to make himself as small and uninteresting as possible. The tactic worked, as most city goers shoved by him with little thought, too busy holding their umbrellas over their heads and meandering towards whatever dead-end job they are trapped in. There is no time to consider one strange boy when one had mouths to feed at home, and a wife that they supposed they never loved in the first place.

"... cold," he murmured to himself, beginning to shiver as he continued onwards. The large, rather garish green and yellow sock hat on his head provided no shelter, and was soaked itself. He pushed it higher on his head and tried to peek through the grey mass of rapos around him to see if he was close to where he was headed. A weak smile spread over him as he caught sight of the rusty grey-red building. He wiggled through the crowd and made it to the front door of the place.

_DINE_, read the neon sign without a working R. He spent a minute underneath a small rain cover and shook himself off, drying the best he could. When he checked his reflection in the glass door, he laughed softly. His fur was a pale orange, and slightly curly from the wetness. His brown eyes were soft, fitting well on his youthful face, but the rings underneath his eyes were proof of a tiredness that was deeply rooted within him. The hat on his head was large and made him seem smaller than he already was, and the stick thinness he had did not help. It was clear his juvenile frame was one that was meant to be lank and thin, but not _that_ thin. He hadn't had a decent meal in a while.

"Time to change that," he said aloud to himself, sticking a hand into the pocket of his red overalls. He fingered the rapo coins he had gotten a hold of before pushing the door and entering the diner.

"Sock, honey!" he was greeted with by a warm voice. He smiled and perked his ears up immediately.

"Hi, Missy." He greeted, taking a seat at a booth near a window. He shed his sock hat and draped it over the booth seat. Shaking himself once more, he let his messy mop of hair flop nearly over his eyes.

A waitress finished polishing a glass before setting it on the counter, and heading to the booth he was at. She took out her notepad, flipping it open and clicking a pen.

"Baby, it's been months," the waitress, Missy, tutted. She tucked a strand of brown hair back that was sticking out of her bun. Looking the soaked boy up and down, she raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you have an umbrella?"

"I forgot," he replied, smiling sheepishly. "I am forgetful."

"Mhmm. You sure are. You forgot to visit me since January."

"Sorry," Sock said while letting his ears droop down. He was a tad ashamed, and pulled at the collar of his wet overalls. "Can I still order, though?"

"Course you can. 'S my job. What'll it be?"

He reached into his pocket and dug out a handful of rapo coins. Using his other paw to grab a menu, he quickly scanned it before responding.

"I'm gonna get the sandwich special, with banya fries on the side. Lemonade for the drink."

"Alright," Missy nodded while scribbling down the order. She paused, looking at the boy with a fistful of coins in his paw.

"You can pay after," she said, tucking her pad away. Sock blushed in embarrassment and stuck the coins back in his pocket.

Missy looked about, checking to see if anyone else was in need of her. The other waitresses were tending the few rapos that were in. It had been a rather slow trickle of rapos on this day.

Deciding she could spare a few minutes, she asked, "How're your parents doing?"

"Oh, good. They're fine. All good" He shrugged, not adding much else. She didn't press, simply left to get his meal.

Sock sighed, looking out the window at the rain. It was starting to ease up. Showers rarely lasted long around Temt, for whatever reason. It was as if it didn't have the time for it to rain. There were deadlines to be met and business meetings to be had. If it rained too much then plants would grow in the cracks of sidewalks, and the wash of grey would be disturbed by something green and flourishing.

He let his thoughts trail off as he waited for his food.

**X-x x-X**

"Well, that'll be about 30 rapocoins, Sock."

He extracted the coins from his pocket and handed her them. Satisfied, she pocketed it. A moment passed and Missy smiled, fondly ruffling his hair.

"Stop by more often, okay? And start eating more! You're a sack of bones."

"Okay."

"And tell your parents I said hi, alright?"

"Okay," he repeated, quietly this time. He put on his sock hat, now that it had dried a bit. Sliding out the booth, he waved goodbye to his friend and made his way outside.

Now that the rain had stopped, he didn't have to worry about freezing while making his way through the streets. After about fifteen minutes, he crossed a bustling road and made it to the park. The park was rather empty, as most people had other things to do than sit around and admire nature.

He sat himself down on a bench, and kicked his legs idly while looking around. He sighed.

"I'm still hungry."

He felt the inside of his empty pockets and frowned. Hours passed, and he watched as the world began to dim around him from his seat on the bench. Not once did he make a move to leave, or call anyone to let them know where he was. Streetlights turned on, shining their grey lights down on the cement. He slid off the bench, and stretched a bit while yawning. It was time for bed.

Dropping to his knees, he checked beneath the seat for anything that would be a problem. Reaching out, he tossed a few stones out of the way and cleared a patch of grass. Sock curled up underneath a park bench, and let his eyelids droop closed. There were no parents to say hi to for Missy.

**X-x x-X**

The night is silent and dead. Sock lay sleeping fretfully underneath the bench, groaning a bit in his sleep. A twig was stuck in his side. He was having a nightmare.

Footsteps became a part of his nightmare, a stalking sound of someone getting closer. Then, a beeping, strange in nature. It was warbling, and came from the maw of a big creature that was trying to eat him.

_Ee e e_,it cried, making its strange footsteps as if it were tiptoeing. The world of the nightmare was black and distorted. Raposa stood around, wearing signs that read mom and dad. They had large smiles and teeth plastered on their empty grey faces, watching as Sock ran away from the beast.

_There he is_, it growled.

"No... no..." he mumbled in his sleep. He felt something grab him by the arm.

His eyes shot open and he squirmed away. Two paws grabbed his arm and dragged him out from underneath the bench. Before he could scream another paw covered his mouth, and he bit them as hard as he could.

"Fuck!" A hushed yell sounded out, deep and rusty. A stranger, a man, someone he'd never heard before. Someone dangerous.

"HELP!" Shouted Sock, kicking and trying to wrench himself free from the grip.

"Shut up, shut up!" Someone said, and he felt a kick on his side. He was knocked over, and began to feel tears well up in his eyes. Another kick, right in his ribs, and he gasped, trying to get up. A foot slammed onto his back and he fell back down into the dirt, shaking violently. He felt his strength ebbing away and knew that he was too thin and frail to fight back anymore.

Sock was hauled up by the arm, and smacked across the face.

"Don't cause anymore trouble, got it?" A threatening growl came from one of his assailants. He nodded weakly, blinking and trying to see them clearly.

They were clad in black, wearing strange headgear and straps over their body. Their paws were gloved, but he could feel claws digging into his wrist.

Unceremoniously, he was dropped to the ground. Before he could recover, he felt a gag being tied around his mouth and a blindfold over his eyes. He began to panic, but another kick quieted him down. He was on the ground, shivering terribly out of fear. He felt himself being hefted up and then thrown into what must have been a sack.

Trying to calm himself, he began to count from one to ten very slowly to himself. At five, he began to try to scream once more and writhed around in the bag. He was tossed and hit something with a thud, and blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

When he awoke, there was a blinding light in his eyes. It was unbearable, so he squeezed his eyes shut and rolled away from it.

He then became aware of the floor beneath him. It was cold and smooth, making him shiver. Most of all, it was unfamiliar, as it was not the usual dirt and grass he usually awoke surrounded by. His sock hat was no longer on his head.

Though it pained him to, he cracked his eyes open and attempted to sit up. Right away his body resisted, the shooting pain in his sides and back making it nearly impossible to sit up fully. He flopped back onto the ground, and decided to stay there until the pain subsided.

From his position on the ground, he tried to look around. From what he could see, there was a small bed in the corner of the room. The ceiling had the bright light that was bearing down on him.

"Where am I...?"

The pain finally dulled itself down and he had adjusted to the intensity of the light. He gingerly sat up to fully scanned his surroundings. He was in a cell of some sort, with steel bars and a large door keeping him locked in. It seemed as though he had been tossed in while he was still out cold.

Deciding it would be easier on his back, he slowly got up to his feet and made it over to the bed. He flopped onto it face down and breathed in the scent of the sheets. They smelled of cleaning chemicals.

When was the last time he had a bed? He didn't know. Despite the circumstances, he found himself savoring the privilege.

At the sound of a rusty door opening. Sock was up and fumbling to hop off the bed.

"FUCK YOU!" A loud scream echoed throughout the room. Sock flattened his ears back and cringed. However, his curiosity got the better of him and he edged closer to the outside of his cell, peeking through the bars to try to catch a glimpse of what was happening.

Two black clad raposa were approaching, carrying a young raposa boy in their rough grip. The raposa were much taller in stature than the ones that had carried Sock away that night, and bulkier as well. They seemed to tower over everything around them and marched stoically, with a seriousness that could not be mimicked. They wore thick black vests, gloves, and boots. On their waist was a black leather belt with small electronic device clipped to it, almost like a small radio but not quite. They seemed to be guards, if anything at all.

They made a grunting noise as they dragged the boy in. The boy was kicking, screaming and struggling as much as he could.

"FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU! LET ME GO!"

He bit a guard in the arm fiercely, but they didn't even flinch. The fabric on their arm seemed too thick for him to even harm them. He refused to let go, though, and simply bit harder and harder until the other guard pried him loose. The boy made a guttural sounding grow and tried to snap at the other futilely.

As they passed Sock's cell, one of them turned and stared down Sock sharply. He looked away and hunched a bit, trying to seem as small as possible. The technique worked, as always; the guard seemed satisfied and continued hauling the other boy away.

They stopped in front of the cell across of Sock. One of them took out a key and unlocked it, opening the door for the other.

"NO! NONONONONONONONONONONONOOOO!"

The boy grabbed the door tightly and refused to let go. He kicked some more and cursed them loudly. They seemed unmoved by this display, and with great force, one of them kicked the boy in his back. He went tumbling in, landing face first.

They locked the door and left, without a word. The sound of their clomping black boots was all that could be heard, fading away as they closed the door behind them.

"LET ME OUT! YOU BASTARDS! LET ME OUT!" The boy yelled as soon as he got up onto his feet. He slammed himself against the bars, as if he could somehow break them down.

"LET ME OUT!" He screamed again, voice ragged from what must have been hours of shouting.

Sock peered curiously at the boy from behind his bars, blinking slowly. He sat down in front of the bars of the cell, as close as he could get to the other boy.

"LET ME OUT, DAMN IT!"

_Slam. Slam. Slam._

Sock was amazed at the persistence of such a fruitless effort. He hadn't bothered to call for help, especially after the beating he had received for his earlier struggle. It was hopeless. Yet this boy, he did not give up. Or so, Sock thought. Something interesting then happened that changed his mind.

After a while the slamming stopped, and turned into him just beating his fists weakly against the door. The anger melted suddenly and gave way to something softer and more fragile. There was no longer a snarl on his face. His eyes lost their wild look and were now wide, sunken in and full of fear. At that moment Sock noticed they were a soft grey, as opposed to the stark grey of his fur.

One of his eyes was swollen, and the other didn't look much better off. His lips were cut up and so were his clothes. The black mini capelet around his neck was in tatters, as were the rest of his black clothes.

"Please." he whispered hoarsely, shaking the bars in his fists before falling to his knees. Tears began welling up in his eyes, which he scrubbed away with a paw.

"I want my mom."

Sock's ears flattened at the words, and a frown settled on his face. He stood up.

"Hey," he called out. He tapped a steel bar to catch the other boy's attention.

The grey boy looked up and blinked, as if he had just noticed that there was someone else in the room. His ears twitched and then flicked backwards in wariness. The mask of anger returned.

"Go away," he growled, turning around and leaning his back against the bars.

"What's your name?" Sock persisted, not letting the attitude deter him.

The boy was silent. He turned around and glared at Sock. A scowl sat on his face. Sock offered a meager smile in return, clearing his throat a bit before continuing.

"I think you and me are in the same boat. We want to get out, right?"

"Of course," snapped the boy.

"Exactly. So... so let's, let's work together! To get out!" His eagerness was clear in his voice. His fists gripped the bars and he pressed his face against them.

"Please? Please?"

Silence stretched. The boy didn't respond, didn't even look at Sock anymore. He stood up and kicked a wall angrily, then sighed. He ran a paw through his shaggy grey hair.

"I... I don't fucking care about you. I'm leaving by myself. You can go to hell."

The eagerness inside of Sock ebbed away into disappointment. He hung his head low, pulled his arms close to him and skulked away to his bed. The lights still blared down their light. Sock threw a pillow over his head and shut his eyes.

**X-x x-X **

Another nightmare, but this time, worse.

A mother and father raposa stood in a hospital room. The mother was clearly pregnant, and rubbed her stomach in circles. The father had a grin so wide you could see every horrible tooth in his mouth. Sock stood before them, shivering, arms tucked close to himself.

_Go away, go away, go away_, he repeated over and over, backing away from the pair. Distorted noises came from their throats.

_Son, son, son_, they cooed. The mother stuck her hands right through her stomach, as if the skin was made of paper. She ripped out a wrapped present box, and the insides of her paper body spilled out before her. The paper insides writhed around, and whispered, their voices like pitter patters of the rain.

_Happy birthday._

He hit the floor with a thud.

"Uuuugh..." he groaned, rolling onto his side. He kicked off the tangle of thin sheets around his legs. Sitting up, he blinked several times and tried to reorient himself. Looking behind himself, it seemed he had fallen off his bed.

He remembered a similar occurrence happening, where he had tried to sleep on a park bench as opposed to the floor. He had found himself waking up unpleasantly by falling onto the floor. He squirmed too much and could never stay in place.

Getting up to his feet, he decided to try to talk to the other boy and see if he could maybe sway his mind. The last talk they had ended rather coldly, but perhaps it was just the shock of being banged up and thrown into a cage that had soured him so.

The grey boy was sitting cross legged in the middle of his cell, head down and mumbling something to himself. He had fist propping up his face.

Sock tapped the metal bars of his cage to get his attention, as he did last time.

"Hey... hey! What's your name?" Sock asked once more, hoping for an answer this time. Referring to him as grey boy would only go so far, with so many grey raposa in the world.

"Leave me alone, kid," he replied without looking up.

Sock huffed, quirking his lip upwards a bit. "Don't call me kid. We're probably the same age, you know. It would make sense."

"Shut up."

"It's true, though! It'd make sense."

Pause.

"I'm thirteen."

"I'm fifteen, kid."

"Stop calling me kid! My name's Sock!"

"Sock? That's your name?" He finally looked up at Sock when he said this, as if he was starting to acknowledge him. "Weird."

"Yeah, it is," Sock agreed wholeheartedly. "What about you?"

He hesitated, opening his mouth and closing it. Just when it seemed he was about to share, the sound of the rusty door opening filled the room. Both rapo boys snapped their attention to who was entering. One of the black clad guard raposa stepped in, followed by a much shorter rapo. The shorter one was wearing all white, and a surgical mask was over her mouth. Her black hair was cropped and kept back in a stumpy ponytail.

Behind the her another taller and lankier rapo followed, wheeling in a cart with many syringes and boxes. He was clad in the same outfit, though his mask wasn't pulled over his mouth like hers. The pair looked like nurses.

Grey boy's eyes narrowed, and his signature snarl returned.

"BASTARDS!" He shouted and banged on the door to his cell. "LET ME OUT!"

The guard rapo was silent and unfazed as usual, but one of the nurses frowned and twitched her ears at the yelling. She mumbled something, to which the guard nodded his head at.

"Well, that ain't good!" she declared angrily.

"There's honestly nothing good here," the taller nurse chuckled. His voice was nasally in nature, and it seemed everything he said was condescending.

The stocky nurse frowned at her companion. Her beady eyes narrowed at him. "That don't excuse nothin'."

He shrugged, choosing not to say anything further. They wheeled the cart up to the front of Sock's cell.

_Ee e e_, a warbling beep suddenly rang out. It came from the small not-quite-radio clipped onto the tall nurse's belt.

"Yer beeper's on, idiot."

"I know, woman," he snapped.

The tall raposa snatched the small black square from his belt. Messing around with the dials, the shrill beeps settled down.

"Learn to keep it off," scolded the stocky one. "It'll mess up if it's too close to 'em."

"I know, I know."

The guard raposa cleared his throat loudly, grunting and pointing to Sock. At this, Sock quickly backed away as far as possible, pressing his back against the wall. Using the same key as before, the guard rapo opened the door to the cell.

Grey boy watched this all with growing anger in his face. He seemed as though he were about to burst. Sock didn't take notice, however, as he was fixed on the approaching nurses. The male carried a large syringe and the female was pulling gloves over her paws.

"Hold still," she instructed. Sock was frozen as she opened his mouth, using a small flashlight to peer inside. She tugged at his lips and stuck her fingers in the back of his mouth. He felt like gagging.

"Mm, seems good," she said approvingly. She pulled off the gloves and tossed them on the cart. She then began prodding him, feeling his pulse in his neck and tugging at his ears. All of this confused him greatly, as all he wanted to do was cower away from them and not be touched.

"He's in perfect condition," she announced to the group.

This truly confused him. He was thin, and was also prone to sickness from living on the streets and hardly eating. What could possibly make that "perfect condition"?

"Hehe, excellent." The tall nurse snickered, approaching Sock with a grin on his face. "We'll get paid greatly for setting up the perfect experiment."

A bad feeling was settling in Sock's gut.

"Hold out your arm," the stocky nurse ordered. Sock gulped, and shot a look at grey boy. He was nearly frothing at the mouth, shaking in a sort of rage that Sock did not understand. The guard took a threatening step forward when Sock made no indication of moving.

"C'mon boy, we don't got all day," the tall nurse said, shuffling a bit and holding up the syringe a bit more.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Sock turned his head to the side and stuck out his arm for them. A second later, he could feel the prick of an injection and bit his lip.

"YOU IDIOT!" Screeched the grey boy, banging the cell door with his fists. "YOU FUCKING IDIOT! YOU BAKI BRAIN!"

The banging increased in volume considerably, but Sock couldn't see. He kept his eyes closed tight and shivered as a cold sensation spread through out his body.

"All done!" Announced the tall nurse, removing the needle. His voice was sing-songy as he did so.

"And what an excellent patient we have here," he nearly purred, reaching out and patting Sock on the head.

"Let's go already," the stocky nurse groaned tiredly.

The nurses wheeled their cart out his cell and the guard rapo locked it up behind them. Sock stood still, not daring to move until all of them had cleared out of the room.

He sunk down to the floor, and coughed a bit. Something in the back of his throat was stinging him fiercely. He raised a paw to his throat and found that he was trembling uncontrollably.

"You screwed up, kid," called out the grey boy. "You screwed up."

The inside of his stomach felt as though it were bubbling up and swirling like a raging storm. The image of the pregnant mother piercing her stomach with her paws returned to his mind.

He collapsed to the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

Seconds ticked by, then minutes, or maybe an entire hour before Sock attempted to get up. The attempt was pitiful, for what strength he had in him was gone and replaced by a chilling cold. It made his arms and legs feel like they were stuck in a pile of snow.

"You okay there, kid?" He heard a voice call out to him. It took him a moment to realize that it was the grey rapo with the tattered capelet talking to him. He blinked slowly.

"I... I feel sick," he wheezed out.

"You shouldn't've let them do that to you, kid. The minute they opened the door, you should've bolted. That's what you should've done."

"Don't... call me kid."

The grey boy made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat and dragged a paw down his face. There was no time for this. Something had to be done. He gripped the bars of his cell and began to instruct Sock.

"Listen, you're gonna need to stay still and take deep breaths. Then you gotta get up, okay? We'll figure things out from there."

"Oka... okay..."

To his best ability, Sock tried to do as he was told. He tried to prop himself up. The sound of his rhythmic breathing filled the room, the in and out and in and out and in and out...

The taste of bile was on his tongue.

_Uh oh._

The vomit was bright red, almost like blood was pouring right out of him. A gasp of horror came from the grey boy.

Sock kept vomiting for what felt like an eternity until the red stained his arms and overalls. It pooled around him on the floor, thick and horrid looking. Sock felt like he was going to puke once more just at the scent.

"Kid! Kid you gotta stop, you gotta get UP."

"I c... I ca-" was all Sock managed before another wave of nausea hit him. He puked once more, this time it truly felt thicker. It was almost like puking up bricks, having it forcefully shove up his throat and out his mouth. Once he stopped, he hacked a few coughs and struggled to sit up. The pool of barf around him made it difficult, but he managed.

Red dripped down onto the floor from his soaked overalls. His face looked like that of a feasting predator. _Pitter, patter_, the drops of red seemed to say.

Sock glanced over to his roommate. Grey boy looked at him with something akin to pity in his gaze. A look of determination then settled in his face.

"They're not stickin' a needle in me."

**X-x x-X**

A janitor had come in hours later, dragging a mop behind them. They wore a loose white suit, similar to that of the nurses, and were the only raposa here that seemed to lack a beeper. It was strange watching them open the cell and walk inside, ignoring the shouts of the other boy to be let go.

It was as if they knew he was going to vomit.

Sock was too weak to put up a struggle as he was pushed aside.

"Go to bed," were the only words they spoke before cleaning up the mess. It left a stench of cleaning chemicals that smelled like his blanket sheets. He had lied down on the bed and stared at the white ceiling, trying to still the dizzying feeling overtaking him.

He didn't want to sleep—that was the last thing he wanted to do—but it seemed there was nothing else to do here. It was either sleep, or attempt at another conversation with his roommate. The nasty taste in his mouth and the sting in his throat protested such a thought.

What had he done to deserve such a fate? He honestly began to wonder. Lolling his head to the side, he stared at a spot at the wall and sighed. What had he done to deserve anything that had happened in his life? All he wanted was a home, some food, a mom and a dad...

A flash of a mom and dad from a nightmare came into his mind. His face soured. Perhaps just a home and food would do. He didn't need anymore than that. Didn't need a thing besides a roof and a meal every day.

He felt himself slipping back into the realm of sleep. He didn't want to, but the strength he had left began to ebb away.

**X-x x-X**

Time was impossible to tell in a bright white box with no clocks, calenders, sun or moon. There's no way to know whether it's daylight, dusk, or 3 o'clock. Sock slept and rose at irregular intervals, punctuated by nightmares and being jostled awake by the sound of the door opening on its rusty hinges.

If Sock had to guess, he'd say that weeks had passed, and that a routine soon followed.

Nurses came in constantly. Whether it was ushering him to a bathroom or taking his temperature, they always seemed to be there and fussing over him in some manner. Sock dreaded the injections the most. The _vaccines_, as they called them. Some made him feel strange. Some made him feel as though the world was crashing down around him. Others made him feel better, before turning into another round of him puking horribly.

The strange rapo were all somewhat antsy, and much less composed than the guard rapo, though less vulgar and cruel than his kidnappers were. They seemed to be wary of him and quick to avoid eye contact. The only two nurses that had spoken to him as if he were important were the stocky and tall ones.

Those two in particular seemed to be in charge of monitoring his progress—a particularly flighty nurse had wittered to another nurse that this was so. The weight of this fact hadn't quite hit Sock yet, though he knew it wasn't good.

Sock didn't know what they wanted from him, though it was clear they were testing for something. Exactly what was the question... His imagination ran wild, and pictures of mad scientists using him as a guinea pig filled his mind. It was frightening.

Currently, he was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling, trying to decipher what this whole thing meant. The kidnapping, the beepers, the nurses, the injections... it was all adding up to something horrific. But _what_?

"Ughh," he groaned, pressing a paw to his forehead. A terrible headache was plaguing him, courtesy of the last thing they had stuck into him.

_A CURE_... _A CURE IS WHAT WE WANT_...

He blinked several times. Sitting upright, he looked around, wondering who had spoken. It wasn't grey boy. Grey boy hadn't said a word to him since the day Sock first had been injected.

_THAT'S ALL WE WANT... A CURE..._

The voice seemed to come from nowhere in particular. He looked all around, stood up, and made his way to the bars of his cell. He gripped them and tried to press his face into them to see if there was anyone around the corner.

"Who's there?" He called out, looking around. His ears twitched anxiously. Grey boy glanced up at him from his sitting position on the ground, but looked back down at the floor after a moment.

"Hello?"

_YOU'LL HELP... WON'T YOU?_

"Help? You want help?" He looked around. A feeling of dread was building inside of him. "It's... it's gonna be okay, alright?"

_NO IT'S **NOT**!_

The screech was distorted and shrill, like it was coming out of a mangled throat. Sock cringed, grabbing his head with his paws. The room began to melt away, turning into something all too familiar. The white faded into black, thick gooey walls. He began to feel bile at his lips once more.

"Stop, stop!" He cried out, full of fear. "Go away!"

_YOU'RE GOING TO DIE... YOU HEAR ME? YOU'RE GOING TO DIE..._

Sock vomited. Out from him, black sludge poured out, just like the walls of his nightmare. He couldn't remember falling asleep, but here he was. He began to scream.

Immediately, the door slammed open and a flood of nurses rushed in.

"Is he alright?"

"What's happening here?"

They quickly fumbled to unlock the door, and rushed in. One nurse grabbed a hold of him. He screamed louder. All around him he could see concoctions from his nightmares swarming him.

"Please! STOP!"

"He's delirious, I think," announced one of the nurses. "Restrain him."

**X-x x-X**

Grey boy watched as Sock struggled fight them off. They managed to hold him back and haul him away, off into god knows where. Two janitors came in right after, cleaning up the bloody vomit that was left pooled on the floor.

A scowl knitted onto his face.

"Fuck," he growled to himself. "Just, fuck."

Things were really going to the shitter. It was only a matter of time before he himself was being hauled off screaming like an animal.

Though the nurses' main focus had been Sock during this time, it wasn't to say they hadn't tried to go after him. They came in with needles at times, but the vicious protesting and fighting back kept them at bay. It seemed they found it not as imperative to stick him as they did their precious lab rat Sock.

Biting his thumb, he looked at the ceiling and started to think of his escape.

He had been plotting it the moment he had been thrown into a sack. Escape. He had to escape. It was all that was in his mind. It would have to be a carefully constructed, well thought out plan for it to succeed. He couldn't let his emotions get the better of him.

And he couldn't take Sock with him.

That damn kid was an idiot. He had so many opportunities to escape, or at least attempt one, and he hadn't made a move. It was pathetic! A real waste. If it had been him, he would've knocked out those nurses he would've found his way out of the place.

Time and time again he had proven himself to be useless. Sock, he just wasn't worth his time. As much as he pitied him, he valued his own life more.

He paced his cell, huffing and sighing in frustration from time to time. There was no more time for screaming and pounding. There was no time for watching and waiting. It was time for action.

Scanning the room, he looked for anything that would be of use. The walls were smooth and the bed only had one thin sheet and a pillow. Nothing that could be used to engineer escape.

The door opened. He was suddenly on guard, ready for whoever was going to walk in. Or so, he thought he was. The reality was much different.

A nurse slowly made his way down the corridor and stopped in front of the two cells. Peppered all over his face were freckles. His hair was bright red, and tied into a short ponytail behind his head. His expression was one of the utmost seriousness; green eyes hooded, mouth pressed to a thin line. Compared to the other frazzled nurses he had seen come and go, this one was much more confident and carried himself in what could almost be described as a regal manner.

He turned and made eye contact with the grey boy. They held their stare for several minutes.

"Hey there," the nurse greeted casually. He took a slow sip from his coffee mug. "The name's Harry. You?"

Grey boy remained silent, narrowing his grey gaze on the stranger. He put as much poison as he could into the look as he could muster. This did not faze Harry in the least, simply causing him to chuckle.

"Alright. Don't wanna divulge that deep, dark secret, I see."

"What do you want?"

"What an excellent question. What do I want? Certainly not to be here, if that's what you're insinuating. Haha."

The leisurely manner in which he spoke belied any malice, though grey boy wasn't so naïve as to believe that he was trustworthy. It was clear that this raposa was interested in his own agenda, and that he'd be carrying it out to a T.

"That kid, your friend. He's babbling like crazy. Talking about cures and stuff like that. I want you to tell me... what exactly the two of you know about our plans?"

"I don't know shit," grey boy spat, turning around to face away from the nurse.

"Haha, funny. Look. I'm not doing this for them, you know. I'm doing this for me. To tell you the truth, this whole thing is gonna fall apart. This entire experiment is doomed."

Experiment... so they were using Sock as a lab rat.

"Doomed?" Pressed grey boy. He turned back to face Harry. "How?"

"Oh, just listen to me. It doesn't make any difference to you how. You're going to comply either way."

"And how do you know that?"

"You tell me what you know and I give you this."

From his pocket, he extracted a key. It was simple, small, and silver. It was the key to the cell.


End file.
